Celebrity Spokespeople Yield Negative Ad Scores

That celebrity spokesperson you’re thinking about hiring may not be as effective as you think—unless she is Oprah. An Ace Metrix study of 2,600 TV ads appearing in 2010 found that just 12% of ads using celebrities exceeded a 10% lift versus average industry norms, and 20% of celebrity ads yielded negative lift scores in excess of 10%. Findings include:

• On average, TV ads starring Oprah generated an average lift of 27%, a spectacular result considering the product she was promoting was insurance, an industry that suffers from a relatively low industry norm.

• While ads starring Oprah took three of the top five slots, Ed Burns for iShares and Carl Weathers for Bud Light took the second and fifth spots, respectively.

• Shock alert: The worst celebrity spokesperson of 2010 was Tiger Woods, led by his endorsement of Nike. Collectively, Woods’ TV ads were 23% less effective than average, and Americans in general, regardless of gender or age, were equally unreceptive to his ads.

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